Iran took center stage on Tuesday as top U.S. intelligence officials and senators discussed what could trigger a military response to the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, speaking to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, said Iran continues to develop its nuclear capabilities but has not yet decided to make weapons.

When asked by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, what would be the "red line" for Iran to cross to trigger a more forceful U.S. response, Clapper said, "enrichment of uranium to a 90 percent level would be a pretty good indicator of their seriousness." Clapper added there were "some other things" Iran would need to do, but did not elaborate.

CIA Director David Petraeus agreed further enrichment would be a "telltale indicator."

Lawmakers voiced worries that any effort to stop Iran's nuclear program could be too little, too late and some said something needed to be urgently done to prevent Iran from crossing the threshold and developing nuclear weapons.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, the committee chairwoman, said, "2012 will be a critical year for convincing or preventing Iran's development of a nuclear weapon.

Sen. Dan Coats, R-Indiana, worried that harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic haven't changed Iranian behavior, not even the threat of military action by the administration. It reminded him of what happened with North Korea in recent years.

"We know that North Korea, despite all of the rhetoric, possesses nuclear weapons," Coats said. "And I just hope we don't have to talk ourselves into a situation where we're not able to back up what we see."

Iran, Clapper said, has "so far" not changed their behavior in the face of the sanctions imposed against them, but "as the pressure ratchets up, there is the prospect that they could change."

In his report submitted to the committee, a 31-page assessment of threats around the world, Clapper said that "counterterrorism, counter-proliferation, cyber-security and counterintelligence are at the immediate forefront of our security concerns" and that the "multiplicity and interconnectedness of potential threats - and the actors behind them ... constitute our biggest challenge."

The assessment indicates al Qaeda's terror network is weakening and the embattled Afghan government is making modest strides.

A U.S. effort to open up discussions with the Taliban to bring about the end of the war in Afghanistan came up during the hearing. A good faith measure being discussed involves the release of five Afghan detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia, the ranking Republican on the intelligence committee, said he believes the detainees are too dangerous to be released from U.S. custody.

Any proposed transfer had not been decided and would be part of ongoing consultations with Congress, Clapper told the committee.

"I don't think anyone in the administration harbors any illusions" about the potential risks of such a deal, Clapper said. He added the final destination and conditions for controlling the detainees would weigh heavily on a decision.

Petraeus said CIA analysts had provided assessments of the five detainees and the risks associated with their release. The analysts looked at "various scenarios by which they could be sent somewhere, not back to Afghanistan or Pakistan, and then based on the various mitigating measures that could be implemented to ensure that they could not return to militant activity."

Clapper was also asked about the future of Syria and its embattled President Bashar al-Assad. He said it was only a "question of time" before Assad is removed from power.

"I do not see how [Assad] can sustain his rule of Syria," Clapper said. But, he said, the strongman could be still a "long" way from losing power given the fragmented nature of the Syrian opposition.

Petraeus pointed out the Syrian opposition is growing. The resistance to al-Assad shows a "considerable amount of resilience and indeed is carrying out an increasing level of violence" as it engages with the military on the outskirts of Damascus and Aleppo, the nation's two largest cities, the CIA director said.

He called the relationship between the United States and Pakistan "strained" and "fraught," and will require more diplomacy and engagement to move forward. He said the two countries continue to share intelligence, nonetheless, and information between the two countries is still "going back and forth."

Clapper said the relationship with Pakistan is a "challenging relationship but an important one," but the interests of the two countries are "not always congruent."

After a firefight that killed two dozen Pakistani troops in late November, U.S.-Pakistani cooperation against suspected terrorists in the border region has been frozen. The United States only recently restarted drone strikes, but key border crossings for moving NATO supplies into Afghanistan remain shut by the Pakistanis.

The intelligence community now considers the cyber threat one of its top security concerns, right behind terrorism and proliferation.
The assessment indicated Russia, and China, as well as Iran, will be top espionage threats in "coming years."

Entities in China and Russia "are responsible for extensive illicit intrusions into U.S. computer networks and theft of U.S. intellectual property."

Foreign intelligence services have launched operations targeting U.S. entities and "we assess many intrusions into U.S. networks are not being detected." It also cites "insider threats" to classified information, saying "trusted" people are using access to computer networks for "malicious intent."

It says the U.S. government and the private sector must work together to counter the threat.

Two senators expressed their frustration with the failure of lawmakers, the administration and private industry to unite behind Congressional efforts to pass legislation to protect cyber networks.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, voiced his irritation that every year the committee hears from intelligence directors and presidents that cyber security is critical but, he said, nothing gets done.

Let be known:
Déjà vu is the reason I wrote Twins in Arms. It dates back to August of 1983 when I informed the American Embassy in Beirut on two separate occasions that there was a rumor of an attack on the U.S. Marines stationed at Beirut Airport. Unfortunately, it seemed I was given the deaf ear because three months later the Beirut Barracks Bombing took place killing 241 American servicemen. I sat watching my T.V. knowing that this attack should have been prevented.
The novel Twins in Arms is intended to stop a terrorist plot that would devastate the U.S. Although I told the FBI about the plot, I still feel obligated to tell the American people of the plot because I’m worried it might fall on deaf ears again. Better be safe than sorry.

Eliminating the ayatollah and Muslim clerics would drastically reduce the Iranian atomic threat including the world violence and terrorist attacks. These evil creatures are the ones who actually pull the trigger in any attack. Their millions of brainless Muslim followers do whatever they told them to do, commiting the worse atrocities without experiencing any guilt or remorse.

I overheard children who were talking about a terrorist plot in the U.S. while I was oversees five years ago. I believe one of the children must’ve overheard it from adults. Even though I’ve told the FBI about the plot, I’m still worried it will be forgotten. So I wrote the plot to my best of my abilities in the novel “Twins in Arms” because I felt it’s my patriot duty to do so even by disregarding my safety.

The majority of the Muslim clerics are as good as any of the good Christians and Jewish clerics who preach the message of the Ten Commandments. The main problem to close the gaps between the monotheisms to reach peace among God’s children, unfortunately, is in the hands of the fanatic preachers who use God for their own purposes. I’m not into religion, but I believe in God. So you will know if you read my novel “Twins in Arms” that have many riddles of how hate is used.

Ok the world needs to act faster than what they are with Iran. We already know sanctions aren't going to work as long as China Venezula and Russia plus numerous other countries are their Allies. Sanctions against N. Korea were laughable and China helped them get everything their Upper Gov't needed to make weapons anyway. It's time to suck it up forcefully take out the enemy and pick up the pieces later.

Iran itself is not the enemy of the United States. The current regime of the Ayatollahs is our real enemy ... and also the enemy of the Iranian people.
Iranians are oppossed by the Ayatollahs' regime. The influential Ayatollahs of Iran believe they are superior to their people and they truly think that they are doing what God demands of them.
In reality, they do not mention they are born of the old Persian Empire and they are aching to bring that past life back into the present. Western allies would be doing the Ayatollahs a great favor by attacking Iran's nuclear facilities because they will attempt to "show the world" ... in Hollywood style ... of scenes of people suffering from such an attack.You can rest assured their version of things will make the suffering of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki look small in comparison. Just use your imagination from the WWII era black and white photos to the 3-D color action features the entertainment industry churns out these days.

Read the history of the US and the tormenting it has caused Iran since 1953. It was the first overthrow conducted by a 4year old agency, the CIA. It is a history of brutal destruction of a once democratic and peaceful society. The US helped the British overthrow Iran's government, murdering, kidnapping, rape, rendition, water boarding, and slaughtering thousand of innocent Iranian's. The hyper violent, ethnic cleansing, genocidal, US, destroyed it's economy by doing what it is doing again today, imposing economic sanctions. The US is the biggest terrorist in the middle east and the world. It uses it's client states Israel and Saudi Arabia to destabilize states that refuse to be submissive to the demands of the US and other international economic cartels. Iran is a problem because it sits in the path of the oil pipeline, the only reason we went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Look at the body count of Iraq, 2.5 million, mostly non-combatants, 1.8 million in Afghanistan, mostly non-combatants, a trillion dollars spent, that we know about. The US policy against Iran for more than fifty years is a demonic, twisted, illogical, and totally inhumane history devoid of decency. The American public stands silent, as Leader wrote, we are nothing more than a nation of sheep, what a shame.

Dear Sal Roberts: Your frustration in believing the U.S. is the menace of the world because of its supports to its allies in the Middle East is totally out of the equation. The Muslim’s children of the world, in particular Iran’s children, were taught to hate their cousins, the Jews, and everyone else is not a Muslim is called an infidel.

February 1, 2012 at 6:43 pm |

Sal Roberts

What the Arabs and Muslims teach their children is not what concerns me, it's what my country has done thru out the world and in the Americas. You would agree that the US was founded on ethnic cleansing and genocide, wouldn't you? You would also agree that the US, since it's founding has committed numerable acts of terror on countries that were mostly defenseless wouldn't you? America in the Americas is a history of racism, fascism, and brutal repression against the first people, the indigenous people of the Americas, beginning with the US. The US has invaded Panama 12 times since 1903. It violently over threw democratically elected governments in Guatemala 1954, a year after it overthrew the democratically elected government in Iran. It raged war against the people of Hatti, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Grenada, Columbia, just to mention the obvious ones. The body count, millions that we know about, mostly all innocent women and children. Iran Contra, drugs for arms, crack cocaine being sold on the streets of Los Angeles thanks to Ronald Reagan,Dick Chenney, Donald Rumsfeld, George HW Bush, Oliver North, George Shultz, John Negroponte, Elliot Abrams, Robert Gates, and Bill Casey, just to mention the obvious ones. Don't tell me the US , CIA, NSA, and the military is not a menace, it is the leading terrorist of the free world. Imperialism can not exist without an extraordinary powerful military. Imperialism is a form of tyranny, because it governs without the consent of the people. We live in an Imperialist state, a police state, where the people cannot demonstrate without the police interfering, where every word and movement of the public is monitored by the military and police. Where the courts refuse to uphold the constitution, and people are convicted because of over zealous police and prosecutors. We the people have lost our country to the multinational financial cartels, and the moneyed elite of the country. The balance of wealth is now concentrated in the hands of a few, they control the government and military apparatus, and the course the nation will take, their strategy worked perfectly, eliminate the middle class, and they did. And you think the US is not the problem, really?

February 1, 2012 at 8:32 pm |

Eric

While I have to agree with just about every one of your points you made, the problem is not with the American People, the 99%. The problem lies with the corrupt "leadership" and the infrastructure. Perhaps the time is approaching that the American People take back the country that has been systematically amended to benefit the rich and powerful, get back to the original intent of the constitution. We are where we are, and it's unfortunate that the early history of the country is such that it is, but at that time, it was colonial society that was in power, and many countries other than the USA are guilty of exactly the same thing. The Spanish conquistadors wiped out the Aztecs as well as the Mayans, the Roman invasions of the majority of Europe and there are countless other examples of that. It's time that everybody takes a level-headed approach to put an end to the constant bickering, and our country is returned back to it's intended values and rid ourselves of the corrupt machine that is in charge of the economy and the political system.

February 1, 2012 at 8:52 pm |

PXT23

Exactly the point: we are no better or worse that the others and therefore have no right to tell other countries what to do, until we put our own house in order..

February 1, 2012 at 9:24 pm |

Eric

While in your opinion we have no right to tell other countries what to do, we still have a responsibility to the population of the entire world to prevent unstable, radical regimes from gaining nuclear weapons, who wouldn't think twice about obliterating everybody that doesn't abide by their twisted interpretations of their religions. The people of Iran undoubtedly bear no hatred to the so-called Zionists and Infidels on their own accord, this is a product of a repressive antagonistic regime, which they themselves (the citizens) have attempted to revolt against, unsuccessfully on more than one occasion.

February 1, 2012 at 10:05 pm |

tom masri

All nations have skeletons in their closet and no nation is perfect. With all do respect and with admiration of all what you had said is true, I think you see the glass is half empty. Read my novel “Twins in Arms” and it might cheer you up.

February 1, 2012 at 11:52 pm |

Sal Roberts

Thank you, I will.

February 2, 2012 at 2:29 am |

Sal Roberts

I am not talking about the children of Muslims and what they are taught, I am speaking about the despicable military, CIA, acts
committed on defenseless countries for the sole purpose of exploiting their natural resources for the economic cartels and the monied elite who control imperialist governments and their military. Besides claiming that all Arabs and Muslims teach their children to hate Jews and Westerners is institutionalized racism, taught in many schools in the US.

February 1, 2012 at 8:43 pm |

Eric

Personally, I don't see that we are at least lately attacking countries for the purpose of explotiation of their natural resources. In the vast majority of the recent cases, the citizens of oppressive regimes have begged for international help to gain their freedom from these oppressive regimes so they can feel safe to be able to speak out without the fear of imprisonment and torture or being shot. We have not taken control or possession of their natural resources in any examples I can think of. As far as the youth and children, if it wasn't for these oppressive regimes brainwashing the youth, the lack of their "leadership" providing gainful productive employment, etc, they would be able to advance their countries technologically in a peaceful manner. With respect of the muslims teaching their children to hate Jews, or Westerners, that's another product of the oppressive regimes impact on them. I know several muslims who I deal/work with on a daily basis, and they are some of the most tolerant people I know. The problem is the radical twisting of the Qur'an by the radical regimes who are causing the biggest problem, as they encourage terrorism, as they live in the lap of luxury, while the real people (the citizens) of those areas live in poverty, with little opportunity for employment. And Yes, the economic cartels, as you call them, I think of them more as the corrupt machine that have taken control by their inherent influence in the election processes. The corruption needs to be eliminated, and those people need to be dealt with accordingly thru prosecution and conviction and put away, where they can no longer take advantage of the 99%. The entire political system needs to be overhauled, eliminating these kind of things where one man (for example, former Governor of Mississippi) can freely give pardons to people who may or may not deserve these pardons. These kind of decisions need to be taken out of the power of one person, and be decided upon by a panel of people who are intelligent enough to see reality, and not be able to financially benefit from it, or whatever agenda this guy had for releasing these dangerous people. Yes, there are a lot of things wrong with this country, but it can be fixed, if the people that try to demonstrate peacefully against it aren't interfered by the police or other institutions they may be embarrassing.

February 1, 2012 at 9:16 pm |

Sal Roberts

The majority of the tyrants that were recently thrown out were all CIA operatives, put in power by the US. Remember that the US dose not invade countries if there is nothing of value to exploit, and does not invade countries that can defend themselves, it only invades countries that are thought to be defenseless. The US just lost two more wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the principle architect of those wars, David Petreus, is promoted to CIA Director, the peter principle, is the way of Washington, that is why we are in the such desperate straits.

February 1, 2012 at 9:33 pm |

Eric

Again, I do not see the us exploiting the resources of these countries. For the most part, we have invaded to help the people who are asking for international help to oust their repressive governments simply to gain the basic human rights and freedom of choice and freedom of speech. Yes, our irresponsible corrupt government entities have gone beyond what they should have and have handled things in an improper fashion without having a real understanding of those people's society. That's why we need to overhaul our own political system so we are given choices of highly educated, intelligent people who don't have monetary gain as their main ulterior motives, and instead of having one man with ultimate power, having a group of highly educated people who understand the people of these other countries, being able to collaborate and come to a more appropriate course of action when it is necessary. Why haven't we attacked Kuwait and taken their resources? That's not what we are about. Why haven't we attacked Syria, their loaded with oil, but at least our current leadership has a better understanding of the plight of the people and isn't the warmonger that was previously in charge. As far as Afghanistan and Iraq, those are examples of the idiocy of prior administrations, not to mention the collaboration of many of their government's agencies in collaboration with terroristic organizations. We need to defend ourselves from the terrorists, but at the same time, we need to rebuild our political system into something that works. Unfortunately, this will be no easy task, especially since the choices we will be offered in the upcoming election. We're far from perfect and we need massive reform, but there are a lot of other issues that need to be appropriately dealt with in the meantime.

February 1, 2012 at 10:21 pm |

Eric

Another issue I see, with our current government with our "party" system and the external influences based on the big money machine and lobbyist influences that has control of everything, what intelligent person would even want to deal with all the BS and party gridlocks that are the mainstream course of action in this day and age. Things need to change. This system is so outdated and so full of loopholes, the only way is a complete overhaul from the ground up. I just don't know how to accomplish that, being just part of the 99% and not having a voice that would be heard, let-alone being listened to, along with all of the rest of the average citizens.

February 1, 2012 at 10:43 pm |

PXT23

agree completely that our system needs reform bigtime: what matters most to the representatives we send to washington is their electability; politicians will do anything to get elected and re-elected; they will play games, lobby, beg, borrow and steal; the straight folks (not talking about sexual preference here) cannot survive; unless we reform our system of government, things will not improve.we are trapped by our own system of government, as are the "corrupt" politicians – they are only playing the game according to the rules that have been laid out for them by our system of government. we need to elect candidates that see through all the corruption.

February 1, 2012 at 10:56 pm |

Eric

Very well said. I agree 100%

February 1, 2012 at 10:59 pm |

tom masri

Dear Eric,
Will you please stop of bickering of what is right and what is wrong. Everything you wrote is true in a way you are asking to better ourselves. You are an amazing writer and a messenger, but you have to face the fact that we are at war with Iran. Period. The Ayatollah leaders of Iran of whatever we did badly to their country, they believe in an eye to eye. Read my novel “Twins in Arms’ that supposed to be fiction …

February 6, 2012 at 10:00 pm |

Eric

@Tom Masri
I do appreciate your complements on my writing/expressive abilities, and I certainly understand the other side. This is far from an ideal world, and I do consider Iran (and others) as a significant threat to peace and I wouldn't trust them for an instant. I really don't know how to fix this, and with the deeply theological government that Iran and other radical countries have, nobody in the free world is safe. We just need to step carefully where we go and what we do to avoid what we all want to avoid at all costs. As far as what you said "An eye for an eye", I believe in another discussion I read that their (Iran or other radical regimes) are "six eyes for an eye" which serves to make the situation to be even more alarming, if that is true. We certainly have to be concerned about this issue and must be ready to respond appropriately toward any threat or attacks upon us, and if the eventuality of an attack upon us does come, we certainly need to respond in an all out manner, rather than as in past situations where we terminated actions before completing the job. We just don't want it to escalate into a world extinguishing everything that we have and know.

February 6, 2012 at 10:37 pm |

tom masri

to Eric and sal
We did set the rule to the world when we championed the human rights occurred. My main concern right now is to do whatever in my power to stop the terrorist attack inside our soil that I explained in my novel “Twins in Arms.” The FBI knows about it, but I think that is not enough. I need to spread the word of the attack in order to be heard. You don’t have to be born in U.S.A. to love it dearly or die for it.

February 7, 2012 at 2:40 am |

Eric

Very True, Tom, and I applaud your patriotism in doing so. We need to make ourselves safe. We don't want to rule the world, as so many of those people have been brainwashed into thinking, but simply want all humans to be able to achieve the basic human rights and freedom that EVERYBODY deserves, but without the threat of terrorism from the radicals!

February 7, 2012 at 10:49 am |

tom masri

We did set the rule to the world when we championed the human rights occurred. My main concern right now is to do whatever in my power to stop the terrorist attack inside our soil that I explained in my novel “Twins in Arms.” The FBI knows about it, but I think that is not enough. I need to spread the word of the attack in order to be heard. You don’t have to be born in U.S.A. to love it dearly or die for it.

February 7, 2012 at 2:42 am |

Eric

BTW, Tom, I will look for your novel, it does sound quite interesting, and I'm sure enlightening.

February 6, 2012 at 10:42 pm |

georgex

The military/industrial/lobbyists are building up pressure to get the U.S. into another war that we can not afford. The previous Republican president declared that Iran was one of the "axes of evil" along with N. Korea and Iraq (which we invaded recklessly). So naturally they feel threatened. But we need to use diplomacy and assurances to reduce this buildup of adversity. No more wars, please.

Hmm, that is rather interesting. Obviously, this news never made it into mainstream news media, or was intentionally omitted. Israel Drivers' licenses doesn't necessarily mean they were citizens, at least from what I know, non-US citizens are allowed drivers' licenses. I don't know how the laws of israel work, so I don't know from that perspective, but it does sound awfully suspicious how they were allowed to disappear. I also don't know about the reliability of that news source, it would be nice of some corroborating evidence could be found, but that could easily enough be sealed in CIA or NSA files. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but it certainly brings up questions.

Ok Iran builds 2 Nuke Power Plants and we fear they will make Nuke ICBM's. At the same time we fear this both the US and Russia have enough Nuclear Weapons to blow the planet up many times over. Also the US has not only used Nuclear weapons to test their effectiveness but we(the US) have used them on 2 different cities during World War II(Nagasaki and Hiroshima). Someone please explain to me why the world fear's Iran and not the US and Russia. Hell Russia has the largest stock pile of Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction and the US has the largest stockpile of Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction.

People we might have used nuclear weapons in the past and that is why we never want to see them used again. The difference between USA and Russia having nuclear weapons is that we talk to each other, we have stable governments, and the nuclear watchdog have all the access they want. Does Iran have any of that?

You actually think that the IAEA or any nuclear watchdog group for that matter has access to keep count of every nuke in both the US and Russia? you cant really be this naive.

February 1, 2012 at 4:50 am |

Really?

They must have a pretty good count or the US and Russia would get reported too. Also the other things listed in my prior comment plays into it also. Do we have a stable government? yes, Are we inspected by the IAEA? yes. Iran tells them where they can inspect and they don't have a stable government. I'm not saying to start war with them. They need to get onboard with letting the inspectors, inspect their nuclear plants. If they don't have anything to hide why wouldn't they? It's in Iran hands.

Another moron that doesnt know the doctrine of history. Christians hunted and killed Druids and Shamans during the Dark Ages in Europe. Christians killed the Jewish during the Black Plague. Christians killed the Wiccans during the Salem Witch Massacres. Christians killed the native population of America during the founding of America. Christianity allows the the slaughter of people who refuse to convert to Christianity. So saying that Islam is the only violent religion on the planet is the purest definition of the idiom "The pot calling the kettle black".

February 1, 2012 at 6:24 am |

Eric

You've certainly expanded on some of my points. Yes, the Christians have killed many throughout history, as well as many other religions, which is just insane. My point is that all religions profess their man-invented beliefs based on their own cultures, and have twisted them to suit their leadership, all to maintain control/brainwash their masses, when in my mind, they're all talking about the same thing, but from vastly differing perspectives and cultures. They've dismissed the discoveries of the nature of the solar system, and the universe that posed any threat to free thinking that might endanger their control of the masses.

February 1, 2012 at 12:33 pm |

Rob

The nuclear weapons we used against Japan in 1945 were firecrackers compared to modern nuclear weapons. Also the United States saved millions by not launching a land invasion of Japan. The U.S and Russia went threw 50 years of poltical and military confrontation and never launched a single nuke so I'd say we have done a pretty good job controling ourselves. Iran's leaders threaten to wipe Isreal of the face of the earth and destroy western civilization because their God thinks were infiedels. I wouldn't put it past them to give al-Qeada a nuke and let them do the dirty work.

America is the only nation in the history of the World to use nuclear weapons. We killed tens of thousands of women and children in the attacks on Japan. Please explain how that makes us able to pass judgement on Iran.

Sgt. Fury & His Howling Faggots
Please stop the attack on others in an uncivilized manner. We are all Americans with free minds that the whole world envies us of who we are. The more of opinion of criticisms from the other side of our land is a blessing to revise our opinions to better it. Unless your Howling Faggots are bunch of KKK and …

February 2, 2012 at 6:46 pm |

Eric

I'll reply on that one. Yes, the Americans bombed Japan one time. It was a new weapon, we did not know the full extent of the damage it could deliver, and yes, it was an atrocity that should have never happened. It was thanks to a corrupt government entity who previously knew of the imminent attack, but gave no warning to the American soldiers to pull us into a war that we were not directly involved in, and were attacked by the Japanese. My opinion, he (the commander in chief) wanted to use the bomb, but it pretty much immediately brought and end to the war (with Japan) in which hundreds of thousands of innocent people died all over the world, not to mention soldiers. The Americans paid reparations, helped the Japanese rebuild and industrialize, and now they have an advanced society, are for the most part very financially successful, barring the natural disasters that have happened, and they are now our allies. Now, we know how much damage it can inflict and we've had the restraint to not use them again, although we still have them, but many have been dismantled. Can you say that Iran or some of these other radical regimes would have the same restraint? I don't think so.

We used the bomb not once but twice. We used it once, saw the massive destruction it caused, and yet we used it again. There is no difference between the rhetoric coming out of some of our idiotic politicians and that coming out from the Ayatollahs of Iran. We created the monster of the extremist Iranian regime by meddling in its affairs decades ago. We certainly nourished the monster of Al Qaeda in Iraq by meddling there. If there is any country in the world that is a threat to world security today, it is ours. Our history is replete with examples of government led barbarism (ethnic genocide of Native Americans, slavery, overt foreign aggressions, brutal foreign covert operations) that give no credence to the belief that we can be trusted to do the "right thing." None.

February 1, 2012 at 9:10 pm |

Sal Roberts

Very well said, thank you for your insight.

February 1, 2012 at 9:35 pm |

Eric

We did NOT use the bomb twice. We used it at two locations on the same mission after we were attacked if memory serves, but certainly not far enough apart in time that we could see the full drastic and horrendous results in the long term. While I agree with you about the meddling our covert organizations have done and rightly angering many citizens of the middle east. We need to be able to take better control of the corruption that unfortunately is rampant in our political system. I also agree with your point on the Iraq affair, as that was pushed by one of the most incompetent leaders of my lifetime. We need leadership who understand what life is like for the common citizen and will take action to help them thrive, eliminate the loopholes in the tax system for the wealthy/greedy machine. As far as the history of our country, with the genocide and atrocities that were committed, that was most unfortunate, but our society has matured since then and that kind of action no longer takes place (except by the possible covert machine of the corrupt government entities). On the same line of thinking, we (US) certainly were not the only people commiting these kind of attrocities, and can be cited throughout history of a very much more primitive society. Mankind by nature is a violent species, but at the same time, we are evolving. What you are saying is essentially that the American people themselves are responsible for these acts, but in reality, most people are either misinformed by our own government or biased news agencies. In my experience, the common people who are able to think for themselves can read between the lines and see the reality, but are hindered by the corrupt machine from being able to effectively make the necessary changes because of our outdated political system primarily due to the fact that big business, self-serving rich have such a great degree of control over the choices of elected officials that we are given.

February 1, 2012 at 9:40 pm |

Sal Roberts

Very well said, I hope you continue to add your voice to this most important topic. Thank you for taking the time. .

February 1, 2012 at 9:54 pm |

Tracy

I will agree with one thing you said – we do tend to be very good at killing hundreds of thousands of people and destroying nations and then helping to "rebuild" them so that we can rebuild them according to our tastes and install regimes that we want.

February 1, 2012 at 9:16 pm |

Eric

Your statement is generalizing far beyond what my point was. In that statement, I was citing Japan as my example. Japan did not create their government to what the US wished to put in place. They had their own system of government, and while it may have evolved over time, it was not due to influence by the US in any way. They are not democratic, but more of a parliamentary form of government. Perhaps, the US should use that example for governmental reform. It takes decisions such as going to unjustified war by one man to a group of people who would need to arrive at a consensus, and perhaps give a better representation of what the population wants. I can certainly say I was against the Iraq war, and was not surprised in the least by the non-discovery of WMD, but on the other hand, we do still need to protect ourselves from another 9/11 incident, but in my eyes, the govt. is taking the wrong approach. We need to seal our borders that are subject to illegal immigration of people who may have questionable intents.

February 1, 2012 at 9:55 pm |

Bob

By the way, have we found those WMDs in Iraq yet? NO? I am sure that we will! Maybe after we bomb Iran, we will find the WMDs in Iraq!

America, the land of the free, and home of the brave. What utter stupidity. We stole this country from the Indians and Mexicans. We waged war on peoples to take our "land". Now, we are surprised that other peoples (Iran) are not going to allow us to steal their resources and land. America, the depised "Superpower" that ran out of oil 4 decades ago. Sorry, America, if you did not have nuclear weaposn to defend yourself, you would be finished.

While I agree with your point on how the English, Spanish, etc. took over this land from the American Indians, which was complete atrocities, this has been the scenario throughout history, just as the Spanish wiped out the Mayans so many years ago, but there is absolutely no evidence we are trying to take anybody's land for oil or anything else. During that period of time, the people that came over here were Colonialists or even conquistadors, just as the Spanish were when they took out the Mayans and Aztecs and there was no real law and order during that time. The American society has grown and matured to where we are now. We try to help those in need when possible, but as far as going to war for Oil, that's just a lot of baloney.

Actually, Eric, I believe that oil definitely plays a part. I never thought so, at first. Mostly to do with control over, not consumption of. Would love to clarify, but admit that it's something I still need to look into to be completely certain.

February 2, 2012 at 4:16 pm |

tom masri

Evolution what it is all about and oil is a distraction.

February 2, 2012 at 6:18 pm |

Bob

I live in America. America and the American people are as corrupt as any people in World history. We ran out of oil in the 1960s and 1970s. Ever since then we have been at the mercy of Middle Eastern peoples who have oil. Iran has done nothing to us, absolutely nothing. It would be an extreme tragedy for the warmongers in America to start a war with Iran. Hopefully, the American people will be smart enough to stop this.

Personally, I didn't even think what you replied to deserved a response. I'm an American and I personally resent him saying all Americans are corrupt. I am not, that is a fact. I'm just trying to hammer out a living so I can retire and survive without having to work to the day I die. It's just unfortunate that the meatheads in the gov't keep draining the social security system that I've been paying into my whole working life may be gone by the time I'm ready to retire. The American people in general are not corrupt, but the rich (with some exceptions) and big companies are another whole can of worms. Of course, my "American people" reference excludes those that are criminals, or take advantage of govt. programs by having babies, the more they have, the more money they get, and end up using for themselves, while neglecting their children, which results often in a new generation of criminals

February 1, 2012 at 4:39 am |

Really?

Totally unnecessary. He provided you a intelligent response and you call him names. Really? Grow Up Bob! Name calling is the unintelligent response when you know someone has proved you wrong. Deal with it!

Sgt. Fury & His Howling Faggots.
Why are you comparing the jellyfish to Mr. Rock? It seems the jellyfish is a lot smarter than Mr. Rock.

February 2, 2012 at 6:13 pm |

Eric

That business with the 70's oil shortage I think really was a staged production by the oil companies. I don't think we had an oil shortage. If memory serves, they predicted that oil would run out completely in 50-70 years at current projections of use, but that was 40 years ago, and oil is still being discovered all over the place. Also, the oil companies have had all this time to work on developing alternate fuel sources, which has had little progress. They have no real incentive to pursue that, because the R&D is expensive, and they can rake in record profits year after year after year.

jFunny how we forget that not to long ago that the U.S under numerous Presidents supported the Shaw of Iran or the Iran-Iraq War in the early eighties that killed over one million people. Something like these events plagues our international reputation still this day, yet many people foolishly think that the Iotola will forget? I'm agnostic myself with several past muslim friends/associates mainly moderates and they won't forget. will we as americans forget about Adolf Hitler? Will we as Americans forget about Joseph Stalen? This isn't that simple like Iran = evil and Israel = good all involved including the U.S have blood on their hands.

Ahh yes war mongers - it is time America seal her doom. Please attack Iran so this country can fall once and for all and we can build anew.
I am thinking the Pacific states should form their own union - don't really care what the rest of the states do, we have enough resources to care and feed our own. California has one of the largest economies in the world with plenty of farmland... ahhh - yes, by all means, please hammer the last nail into Americas coffin and attack Iran.. The entire world will be better for it.
Iran is NOT Iraq and ALL non-uber wealthy Americans will pay a hefty price.

Easy for you to say until gangs roaming around start torchering and killing you and your family. How easy it is for you to say what you wrote until a pipe is smacked over your head as you peak at your family hanging from a tree.

Attacking Iran is not the answer. I think the answer lies in a complete and total overhaul of the American political system, eliminating the corruption, modernizing the election process, and eliminating the party system. Elections should be based on a person's merit and past record, not on what party he/she is affiliated with, or what big business contributes to election campaigns, or the lobbyists. We needs something that allows for more of a complete representation of the American public, and instead of one person in complete power, but more of a group resembling parliament where a group has the power, but all have to come to a consensus, rather than one person calling the shots

Ya you say that until it happens and the Chinese and North Koreans make themeselves at home in those states. America may be slightly in shambles, but we are not dumb enough to start world war three. Im pretty sure all parts of government would agree on that.

Yes like the. Poor boys, they gave their lives for their country, unlike you, Bob, who cna only sit behind your anonymous computer and type in sarcastic remarks. Shame on you for sullying the memory of those wonderful soldiers.

February 1, 2012 at 3:33 am |

Bob

Rock – you are the worst of America. Those 5,000 dead Americans in Iraq died for absolutely nothing. Iraq is a failed state, and mayhem their future. But, we may still find the WMDs that Bush and Cheney promised us. As for the 5,000 dead Americans – their lives are on you and the souls of people like you who advocate war. War, that's what you support, and that's what needlessly killed 5,000 Americans.

February 1, 2012 at 3:52 am |

Eric

You are right, those Americans did die for absolutely nothing, to overthrow a leader that our government put in power to begin with. Just an example of the ineptitude of the leader and chief and the CIA (CLIA – Central lack of Intelligence Agency). They most likely got their information from somebody who was just laughing their a$$es off to manipulate the WMD issue into a big deal. Hussein did use chemical weapons on his own people, and likely during the Iran-Iraq war but likely had plenty of warning to get rid of them all before we went in there. That was a bad incident, that will unfortunately go down in our history.

February 1, 2012 at 4:46 am |

Bob

Rock – please explain to all of us stupid people why 5,000 soldiers died in Iraq? Have we found those WMDs yet? Is Iraq stable yet? Better yet Rock, please go to the mothers of those 5,000 dead and tell those poor women why their sons and daughters died? Just lay it out, plain and simple, for the 5,000 dead.

February 1, 2012 at 4:09 am |

Sgt. Fury & His Howling Faggots

You're nothing but a hate filled, ball-less little chicken-hawk, emboldened by the knowledge that it won't be your blood that gets spilled. Pity.

The only problem there is the massive collateral damage that would occur, and the massive amounts of radioactive fallout that would affect the entire globe. Everybody deserves to have a place they can call home no matter what religion, but when they are constantly attacked, sure, they ought to defend themselves. They certainly should stop building their settlements in the Palestinians area. They just need to stop the BS and learn to coexist.

I have stood face to face and looked into the eyes of a captured Al Qaeda terrorist. Someone who attempted to blow themselves up with a suicide vest but failed due to faulty wiring of the vest. This person had no soul and was full of hatred. Brainwashed to believe that if he carried out his task, that his family would be taken care of and that he was going to meet his many virgins in "paradise". This person was dedicated to taking out a few people while ending his own life in the process without hesitation. What do you think will happen if a person like this winds up with a nuclear device in his possession? Thousands of completely innocent civilians that have nothing to do with the military or government ARE going to die. Its not an assumption, its a fact. If Iran eventually constructs a nuclear weapon or device, it is NOT going to stay in that country for long. You need to open your eyes people. Cut the BS, get past the politics and look at the inevitable. Iran's nuclear program MUST NOT be allowed to continue past 20% enrichment. There is no need for it. There's obviously a reason why the whole world, not just the US, has their eyes on Iran.

Well, of coarse, you are only seeing this from one narrow perspective. Imagine if you were an Iranian how you would see it. Imagine how if WE were somehow to lose our nuclear weapons capability how we would scramble to regain it regardless of what the hell the rest of the world felt.

First of all, you are probably lying. Second, America is the only nation to kill innocent people with an Atomic weapon. We droped nuclear weapons on Japan and killed thousands of women and children. So, tell me how we are so pure when no Arab or Persian nation has ever done such a thing?

I would love to do a study of your brain and find what makes you tick. It's ok to disagree with people as we all have different opinions. But when someone, who enjoys the liberties of the US, defends other countries, who are intent on killing every US citizen, that ... that blows my mind. You understand that the Quran does not preach tolerance? It is their Quran or your death. If they had their way they would subjugate every living person or kill them. The only thing that will stop them is the use of force. These are people who treat their women as property or dogs even. These are people who send women to jail for adultery after being raped. So yes, I would absolutely love to study your brain to find out why you defend these other countries if you are a US citizen. Obviously, you are missing a few screws. If you don’t like, try moving to one of these “other countries” and see how long you survive.

February 1, 2012 at 3:57 am |

Eric

Unless I'm mistaken, the Qur'an does not advocate violence that the majority of Muslims read, but rather another twisted version of it that the radical Muslims have created. I may be wrong on this, and if so, I apologize, but I've known several Muslim people and they are some of the most tolerant people I know.

February 1, 2012 at 4:52 am |

Bob

Travis – you are a dope. Go study your own brain, maybe there are a few active cells there. Sure, there are some idiots in the Arab and Muslim World, just like there are idiots in the Christian and Western societies. You seem to represent the more stupid people in Western society. Maybe we should send you to an Island with all the extermists in the Muslim realm and let you all finish each other off. Then the rest of us sane people can sleep well at night.

February 1, 2012 at 4:05 am |

Eric

It was before my time, and it was unfortunate that so many innocent people died in that tragedy, but don't forget the American soldiers that died when we were not even directly involved in the war. It put an immediate end to the war with Japan, and we helped them to rebuild, provided aid, and now look at how successful they are, and have become our trade partners and allies. Still, there was the corruption in the White House, people knew that the Japanese attack was coming, yet didn't even evacuate the naval bases or give them any warning. There's ugliness on both sides of the fence, unfortunately.

February 1, 2012 at 4:16 am |

Travis

Calling people stupid, shows that you have no brain of your own, or you would have come up with an intelligent response. Putting others down to make your arguement look better doesn't further your arguement or prove your point. I just makes you look stupid in the end.

Geez...you fag, rag heads need to get a room...May 7000 camels join forces to rid the monkey people from the desert

February 1, 2012 at 8:37 am |

Barb

@Eric- North Korea is no threat to the U.S.. They have a dudder of a nuke that can only be launched short range. As far as them attacking South Korea unprovoked, they both provoke each other all the time. Things may change now, since the death of their fearless leader, but we'll just have to wait and see. Pakistan has nuclear weapons, but that's because of their constant bickering with India. It's highly unlikely that either India or Pakistan will use those weapons. Israel has nuclear weapons, so Iran more than likely wants them. Regardless of what the Iranian President may have said, or didn't say, Israel is always taking cheap shots at Iran. They have been behind some, if not most, of the Iranian scientist assassinations. I'm not talking about just the recent ones, either. When Iran first started their nuclear energy program Israel was very much against it. So, perhaps Iran wants those weapons to deter future attacks and/or invasions on their country. I cannot blame them for wanting to protect themselves and keep other countries from attacking them, or assassinating their people.

I agree, North Korea is not a threat to the US, and unlikely to be at any time in the near future, but they still remain a threat to their neighbors. Much of it may just be a bunch of BS talk to make them seem more dangerous than they are, but if the regime continues to be as wreckless and unstable as they were with their past leader, it could pose a threat to that region of the world. My hope is that the new leadership won't be as paranoid as the prior leader, and will work to finally end the still on-going war with South Korea. As you probably already are aware, they technically are still in a state of war. Let's hope this new leader changes this ugly situation.

February 1, 2012 at 3:36 am |

blursd

So, if I understand you correctly, Iran should be allowed to possess nuclear weapons to stop foreign entities from breaching it's sovereignty ...? I don't think a nuclear arsenal provides any kind of protection against or serves as a deterrent for clandestine operations.

According to that line of thinking if Israel assassinates an Iranian scientist then Iran would respond by firing a tactical thermonuclear missile at Tel Aviv? That's basically what you're saying. You know ... for all the state sponsored assassinations between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War I don't think a tactical thermonuclear strike was ever considered a legitimate or justified response to such an action.

No, absolutely I don't think Iran should be allowed to get nuclear weapons. We want to stop them from producing one, whether it reaches the 90% enrichment point or not. BTW, 90% I believe is what would be required for something like the atomic bomb. That's not to include a dirty bomb, which I suspect could be constructed with a lower purity of uranium. As far as North Korea goes, they already have one, and there's really not a lot we can do about that at this point. I just feel that Iran is a bigger threat than N Korea. My hope is that the new leader of N Korea isn't as psychotic as his father was, or at least not as brainwashed as everybody else in the regime is. Note: I am excluding the general population of N. Korea. I'm sure they are an honorable people, but so isolated from the rest of the world, the have no idea what else is going on outside of their immediate regions.

February 1, 2012 at 3:55 am |

Lan

Glad to see that the war mongers are losing. CNN is posting fewer "Is War Inevitable" Iran = badguy BS articles every week now, and most of the comments are anti-war and pro-common sense/intelligence. I'm having more faith in you Americans noadays, or at least the geenration that is commenting online.

I agree too. My best friend is an assistant to one of the editors in Atlanta here. They do have regular meetings and major topic that apparently gets discussed (believe it or not) is user opinion. They do take note of the most popular comments as per the "Likes" functionality. Since there is a majority of anti-war sentiment and people observing the hypocrisy and obvious parallels with Iraq, they are cutting back on Iran segments. At least until something truly news worthy comes up.

I fictionalized the terrorist plot in my novel that I overheard when I was oversees a few years ago of how Iran might retaliate on our soil if it was to be attacked by us, the U.S.A.
I want the public to know about the plot to stop it because our officals had failed us twice when they had the Intel about the 9/11 attack and about the Marines barracks bombing in Beirut 1983.

Before we initiate a war against Iran to destroy its nuclear reactors, we must protect our own. There is a group of Ayatollahs, who believes in death to glorify God, might have a plan already to retaliate against us at home. I wrote my novel “Twins in Arms” out of my patriotic duty as a U.S. citizen.

CNN like every other corporate media mouthpiece continues to ignore Ron Paul. Cooking their own polls, to cater to those who support their financiers. Ron Paul wants to Audit the criminal Empire known as the Federal Reserve. End the encroaching police state here in the US. And stop the US being the world's police.

Did you know before the Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913, (while most of congress was out for christmas vacation) We had a ZERO percent Income Tax. Now we are wage slaves to the banks. Our Dollar has been in steady decline ever since.

CNN's Parent Companies supported SOPA because they are afraid of alternative media. They want to drop the hammer on Free Press

Ron Paul is the only politician who isnt in the pockets of the Banksters and the Military Industrial Complex.

When the hell are all you Ron Paul-bots going to just give up and go back to playing WOW?? It's so old now. Every article that can even minutely be analyzed from a political standpoint has to have some big "This would never happen with Ron Paul" BS. What, is he paying 90% of his campaign funds to pay for hackers to go online and post ad-nauseum for his support? He's finished...

Nothing here I can disagree with, every news source give their own biased stories, omit facts to bias their stories. Just the one piece I have to add to that is that we are not only slaves to the Federal Reserve, but also to the IRS. What really angers me so much is the fact that these millionaires, billionaires are paying maybe between 10-15% tax rates, while I work an honest job, making a modest income, but am getting taxed at a rate of 30-35%. This is just wrong. The govt claims we don't have an inflation problem. This is BS. I just had to replace the battery in my car, and in the past 3 years, the price has doubled. Gas has increased by even a much larger margin over the past several years, yet the gas companies are making record profits, and claiming that they're spending a relatively small amount of money on alternative energy sources. What's their motivation there? Research and development is expensive, but gee, lets increase the price of gas and make a killing and line the big-whigs pockets to the point of bursting, not to mention the fact, they likely pay little or no taxes since they base themselves outside of the US where they can avoid being taxed.

It seems our government likes us to be stuck in endless wars. So we get little bits of information, not usually the entire story. We know our government wants to stop Iran, and therefore, most average people dislike them simply because our government does. I'm not saying Iran should have nuclear weapons, but I also don't think anyone should. This comes just a couple days after U.N. people went to investigate Iran's nuclear program. Perhaps I have missed something, but I have not heard of any results on that, yet. All of this sounds very familiar to when we invaded Iraq.

How quickly we forget. And despite my earlier comment, which was trying to get a point across (Mutually Assured Destruction and the fact that North Korea and Pakistan have nukes and humans are still here), I too wish that no one had nukes. This is indeed deja vu. Or is it? How quickly we forget. How easily we ignore.

I read your earlier posts, Chris, and understood the point you were trying to make. Honestly, it should not be up to the U.S. to police the entire world. France signed the same agreement as Iran, and yet they continue working on nuclear weapons. I don't see the U.S. threatening them about it. The U.N also hasn't tried to make Pakistan dismantle their nuclear weapons, and I would guess they are just as likely to use them as Iran would be. We have no right to tell other countries how to defend themselves, especially when we sell weapons to their enemies. What do I know, though, I'm just a civilian.

February 1, 2012 at 1:18 am |

Eric

I don't agree with the US acting as a "police" power, but should use diplomacy to try to get the number of nukes eventually taken down to zero, but the problem is, the terrorist states that are out there wishing to commit Jihad need to be prevented from being able to make them. The other danger, of course is the purchasing of the existing weapons by these radical terroristic regimes, such as some from of the former Soviet Union that may possess them and are illegally sold to provide for somebody's greed. I know there's no one clear answer to solve all of the problems, but at least some open worldwide discussion, and some kind of restitution for some of the unwarranted interference that has occurred in the past would be in order. The problem is still the basis of religion, and it's inherent control of the masses. It's just very difficult to not somehow get involved when such a large percentage of a countries population is begging for help to remove repressive regimes so that like the US, they can all have basic human rights.

February 1, 2012 at 2:33 am |

Eric

That country is another good example. Those people live in absolute poverty, in terrible living conditions, but what does their government do? they build up their military, strike South Korea with no provocation, while the leadership lives in the lap of luxury. Their priorities are all mixed up with a complete nutcase leadership. Sure their former leader has passed on, but the power structure remains. It's yet to be seen how the new leader will handle things, but his influence may be minimal, as he is only a small piece of the overall threat.

February 1, 2012 at 2:05 am |

glennrobertg

Iran is not a threat to the US. Will not be a threat to us if they have the bomb. We are led to believe they are suicidal and they are not. They have not started a war outside of their boundaries in my life time (82 years). Their religion irritates both Saudi Arabia and Israel so they feel threatened. Not our problem.

February 1, 2012 at 2:12 am |

Eric

Not entirely true, they are working on long range missiles, and they have ships capable of launching missiles into the US. There is nothing to stop them from running their ships in international waters. To them, we are the "infidels" and they have made numerous threats. They're just biding their time until they have the weapon fully developed. Perhaps not in your lifetime, perhaps not in mine, but I fear for my son's lifetime

I personally can say I have absolutely no dislike for the North Korean people, but their leadership scares the hell out of me. They are so isolated, they have no knowledge of how the rest of the world is and how other countries have it better. I'm not necessarily defending Democracy as a form of government, but is there an example of one that really works? So far, I don't see one. Corruption is rampant, and like I've stated before, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

February 1, 2012 at 2:09 am |

Eric

I tend to avoid Fox news (highly biased), or CNN news (somewhat biased) but I go to many other news sources, because we all know each of them have their own biases. Try looking at some of the foreign news sources, and you can at least sometimes get multiple perspectives of the story and make an educated interpretation of reality.

I do search for a lot of other news. I don't rely on just one site to give me all the facts and information. My point was that many American's only read certain news sites and base their opinions off of just that one source. They also listen to our government officials spout off about how this or that country is in the wrong. I've also noticed that many people tend to only see certain things in articles, and not the entire information. Most opinions are formed from being slightly mislead, all out lied to, or by reading things out of context and not completely.

February 1, 2012 at 1:43 am |

Eric

I have to agree completely with that statement. Much of it is that many people are easily mislead, have a favorite news network, who, like you say, omit facts, mislead, or completely lie about issues. It's all part of the corruption machine. We need a truly open and honest news source without bias and open the masses eyes as to the actual truth of the matter.

February 1, 2012 at 2:54 am |

Barb

American's = Americans.

February 1, 2012 at 1:44 am |

Iranacockuptheirass

Damn, just like I thought. There aint a person in here that knows what the fuck is going on.....May you all have wild camel sex in your anals....if we don't kill them, they will kill you, your mom, your sister, your children...you aint seen shit yet. The radicals are tearing up, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Africa, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and so on. An because of piss heads like you they could get her because you say" THEIR KILLING LITTLE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD". Kill the radicals, kill em all because they aint stopping.Open thyn eyes!

Obama needs to get out of office. He is not working for us! He puts U.S.A down and tells us we are bullies around the world. His wife tells us are kids are fat and we have to take her crap too! Obama done less for us and he does not know what he is doing in office that's why he plays so much basketball and golf..

February 1, 2012 at 1:30 am |

Eric

While I cannot say Obama has been the best thing that ever happened to the USA, at least he came from a background where he lived more like the common population, and has a better understanding of how the real mass of the population lives. People like Gingrich and the others haven't got a clue what it is like to struggle to make ends meet, while doing an honest, hardworking job. At the time, he was by far the lesser of the available evils, and those were the only options. I feel that the entire election system needs to be overhauled. The electorate college was designed at a time when there was no electronic communication possible, and in my opinion, it is long overdue to be abolished. The Lobbyists need to be eliminated from the equation, and the people need to have more than the few choices that are left to choose from after the primaries are done. Special Interest groups also need to be removed from the equation. All of these things simply put the control of this country in the hands of the big corporations, who in essence really own the whole political system.

February 1, 2012 at 2:42 am |

Chris

I'm an American. I oppose action against Iran. I oppose our government's use of our military. I oppose our policy of bombing other countries into democracy. I oppose the propaganda flooding us from the government and our corporate masters that lead otherwise probably reasonable people like you to parrot unoriginal spoon-fed lines about what it is to be "American". I oppose our warmongering. I oppose the lies. I oppose the nationalism. I oppose people calling for a Christian theocracy as much as I would an Islamic theocracy. Problem?

I too am opposed to taking military action in Iran, but Iran needs to be more cooperative and transparent with their nuclear program. If they are in fact doing their research for purely peaceful means, why not be completely open with the International Atomic Energy Agency. In addition, I also am opposed to all of the corrupt leadership we have in this country, the corruption in the big corporations, but we're not the only country that has this problem. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. There has to be a better way. In most of the cases, warmongering is not the American way, and I'm not talking spoon-fed propaganda. Every person on this earth should have the right to free speech, freedom from repression, but we should also have the ability to deal with the massive corruption that exists throughout the nation. I'm also against the bailouts that our gov't has provided some of these corrupt entities, primarily Wall Street. Look at GM, they received a bail-out, and they repaid the government payout, and now after a restructure and elimination of some of the waste, they are back in business. This corruption exists here, but it also is widespread in many other countries.

February 1, 2012 at 1:21 am |

glennrobertg

I am with you Chris. Got shot at in Korea in 1953. Most of our wars have been unjustified and with no benefit.

February 1, 2012 at 2:21 am |

Chris

It makes me ufcking proud to see enlightened people, American or otherwise, and human just the same, waking up.

To all you idiots: Sure, Iran should have nukes, then Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria,Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Kuwait, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Turkey will need a few too,,,,,because all these other countries will be threatened by Iran if Iran has one and they don't....... did I leave anyone out yet.....oh, by the way, allow your 3 year old to play with your loaded automatic weapons while you're at it!!!

Another brainless media zombie. You don't know JACK SQUAT about the Middle East. I'm pretty sure you can't even locate Iran on an unmarked globe. You'll probably have a hard enough time finding the US.

I think you completely missed the point of that comment, to me, it sounded as a sarcastic statement about letting repressive regimes gain nukes. My opinion is, we need to eliminate the nukes we have, but we can't do that until everyone else does the same. You have to maintain an equilibrium in deterrents to prevent an all out holocaust.

Iran has on countless occaisions threatened to wipe out Israel, as well is the "infidels", and they do not dictate US foreign policy. The US is doing nothing except trying to make the world safer by not allowing radical extremists from getting nuclear warhead capability and firing at whoever they so desire. The way I see it, the US stands for the rights of the individual citizens of these repressive regimes so they can live a decent life and not be denied a voice in how their country's affairs, rather than being denied the bare necessities of life, while the leadership lives in the lap of luxury, meanwhile they are being systematically shot to death for trying to take a stand for their own freedom of choice.

Speaking of ignorant fools, it sounds to me like you are a prime example. This all boils down to differing perspectives on religion, which has been the leading cause of wars throughout history. Everybody wants to claim their Bible, Qur'an, or whatever religious doctrine you look at. They were ALL written by Man, based upon their own perspectives and civilizations. They are all, in my opinion expressing their own interpretations. Religion has long been a tool used to control or influence the masses. Remember when Galileo made his observations and realized the earth was not the center of the universe, but rather was in orbit around the sun? The religious faction in his case shunned him as a heretic, but he was right. There are many more examples. In Columbus' time, the earth was flat, but he proved them wrong too. The list goes on and on.

February 1, 2012 at 1:52 am |

Eric

@Maltese Falcon
"So what."

What's your point with that? Your response doesn't even make any sense. Maybe you need to open your eyes a bit, or you're as irrelevant as your comment.

February 1, 2012 at 1:05 am |

Major Tom

@Stalin: The header on that article says "Africa". Any publication that doesn't have a clue which CONTINENT Iran is located on, cannot be considered credible. I know 4th graders with better knowledge of world geography. Nice try. Where are your sources of "numerous occasions"? You had to dig up a 2005 article written by a retarded moron who doesn't even know where Iran is located? You've proven my point.

February 1, 2012 at 1:06 am |

Eric

Good point there on the inaccuracy of the press. That's why I look at many sources and make an educated opinion from all the available perspectives. Some are blatantly wrong, but there are many other examples, and I've heard translated speeches from multiple sources that prove the point. Look up the definition of Jihad. It's war and destruction of anybody that doesn't believe in their form of religion. Do you think it's fair that women in those Jihadist states get arrested for driving a car when they have no other means of providing for their families? Do you think it's fair that women who are raped are executed for adultery?

February 1, 2012 at 2:00 am |

tnskier

@Majortom...you are either not the brighest individual, don't pay attention to current and world affairs or your just acting like a troll..i.e., cite one major source in which Iran has threaten the west. All you have to do is a basic search on the web and you will see numerous (repriable) sites in which Iran's president is professing threats, Ahmedinejad even makes threatening remarks when he addressed the U.N. the last three open assemblies that where subsequently held there. I'm embarrassed that some of these idiotic people reside in America and walk amongst us free.

February 1, 2012 at 1:27 am |

Eric

Thank you, that helped to express my point exactly.

February 1, 2012 at 2:35 am |

bob

I find it hard to believe in this day and age of instant replays that someone can perpetuate such a bold faced lie and others will believe it. iran NEW said they want to wipe out isreal. what was said is that the REGIME in isreal needs to disappear from the pages of history. this was at a 'world without zionism' meeting. zionism being an apartheid like political system where if you arent 'x' you are a second class citizen. there is NO difference in what was said than all of the other calls for regime change that have been issued over the years. the 'wipe off the map' MISQUOTE came from a sloppy live translation. the speech was given in persian and there is no idiom 'wipe off the face of the map' in persian. when ahmadinajad was pressed by reporters on the subject later on he went as far as to say that he would accept the status quo in the occupied territories, if thats what democracy in the area wanted. he said his beef was NOT with the jewish people, he said his complaint was with the discrimatory government in tel aviv. PERIOD.

the only thing that happens time and time again is people repeat the lies over what was really said.

February 1, 2012 at 2:46 am |

Eric

If I recall correctly, he expressed Zionists and "Infidels". The definition of Infidels to me means basically all of those people who do not follow the radical misinterpretation of the Qur'an. I only have limited knowledge of the Qur'an but from what I understand of it, it does not promote war with the Zionists or Infidels, or even using your own people as essentially human shields and intentionally placing them in military installations, but has been twisted to their ideology. The translation may have been sloppy, but the idea still gets across. Iran may not be as guilty of these kind of acts, but certainly was a factor in Iraq, and most especially in Afghanistan

Oh really? We're killing people all over the world??? We are targeting the radical oppressive regimes. Unfortunately collateral damage happens, and occaisonally errors are made, and it's unfortunate, but that's the price of freedom. It happened here, and it will happen anywhere.

February 1, 2012 at 1:08 am |

Maltese Falcon

According to "Eric" the price of his so-called "freedom" is quite a lot of "collatteral damage" as he refers to it. This is, in fact, many deaths of actual humans around the world, especially in Islamic countries. The deaths aren't murders; they are "errors that are made", and , of course, some of those are justifiable because the victims are "Bad People" and therefore expendable. Watch out you don't get on that list. Then you are dead.

February 1, 2012 at 1:42 am |

Eric

You've taken my point in completely the wrong context. Look at how many people died in this country to obtain their freedom during the American revolution. Those who died were not bad people, they were simply trying to gain independence from Great Britain who was taxing without representation. Any loss of life is regrettable. Sure, mistakes are made in war, be it breakdown in communication, or whatever. The primary targets are typically military installations, communications systems, etc. in order to make the enemy regime have a more difficult time coordinating attacks. It's not us that place innocent civilians in these places intentionally so they can claim we've killed civilians. This is a common practice with these countries that don't respect human life, especially of their citizens. To my knowledge, the US has never used such tactics.

February 1, 2012 at 2:50 am |

Maltese Falcon

Tell me, "Eric", do you work for the US government in the Propaganda Department? Your parqgraph was fairly well written. It's odd that you can write clearly but claim to think your government's foreign policy is so egalitarian.

I absolutely do not work for the government, and I must say I strongly disagree with many of their policies. I also do not affiliate myself with any parties, as I completely disagree with their games they play to gain power. That is part of the corruption I see in this country that I think needs to be addressed. I disagree with some of the foreign policy, as much of it is spurred purely by greed and corruption, but as far as aiding those who are desperately seeking freedom from oppressive regimes, I think some assistance is required, not by sending troops there, I don't want to see that, but this is an Arab issue that they need to resolve on their own accord through diplomacy, but the Arab council needs to take the lead, and I'm not opposed to the US being involved in those talks, but as far as starting another armed conflict, I really don't think we should go there. I think we just need to lead by example and when so many desperate oppressed people are begging for help, something needs to be done.

February 1, 2012 at 1:41 am |

Maltese Falcon

Even your own leaders now are saying publicly that they do not believe that Iran is attempting to construct a nuclear bomb at this time. The supposed 20% uranium enrichment level announced by the Iranian government is only applicable to nuclear fuel rods. So get off this idiotic anti-Iranian stuff for once because you people are a bunch of goddam idiots.

Maltese Falcon, please enlighten us in which of the American leaders are proclaiming that Iran doesnt have a desire to manufacture nuclear weapons. If you knew anything about enrichment, then being at 20% is a grave concern. All you need is 3-5% of enrichment of uranium and roughly 7-8% for platiumum for power and electrical needs. If your going to enrich for medical purposes then all that you need to enrich is about 9-11%. Enriching for weapons grade take quite a long time. It's why you would need to be in possession of 100,000's of centerfuges which Iran currently has. In fact once a nuclear power plant enriched rods are spent. Those rods are reused to enrich the uranium for medical and possible weapons grade if so desired. There is NO need to go over 11% enrichment unless a nation desires to go weapons grade. Just today, the US. Intelligence Community gave it's annual report to the Senate Intelligence Commitee for viable and plausible attacks that could imminently be conducted against America. And from the IAEA report and UN and Iran willing revealed that they have enriched Uranium to 20% and a significant amount. That just renews concerns of Iran's intent. Now many make an argument that if other nations have nukes then Iran has the right to possess nuclear weapons too. Well, Iran is not responsible at this time to have these sorts of weaponary. It's like giving a loaded gun to a ten year old (with the safety off) and telling them to becareful while playing with it. At this time Iran should and will not have a nuclear weapon. North Korea slipped by the world under the radar and look what they do.. N. Korea is constantly threatening to deploy their nuke aresenal whenever something occurs to them. The world doesn't need another nation pulling this crap and hold it hostage when they have a temper tantrum. Want to apologize for any spelling, grammatical errors. It's late and I'm tired but felf I needed to responded. Please do a bit of research and apply some critical and abstract thinking before making fools of yourselves. Respectfully submitted.

I agree – letting Iran possess nukes is like letting a petophile play with children. This is a gross comparison, but it's the truth. You wouldn't let them because you're 99.9% sure of what will happen!

February 1, 2012 at 1:54 am |

Maltese Falcon

20% is not a "grave concern" according to the article. The leaders of the CiA at the Senate hearing said 90% was the danger point. I do not have a Ph. D. in Nuclear Physics, but I think there is a substantial difference between 20% and 90%. Maybe I'm missing something here because of not being an expert. Do you have some kind of different perception of this situation, Tin Skier?

February 1, 2012 at 2:26 am |

Eric

20% is far higher than is required for energy production or medical treatment needs. This is just a stepping stone in the progress of their development. With as many centrifuges as they have in their bunkered enrichment plant, it's only a matter of time.

February 1, 2012 at 3:29 am |

Eric

You left off one important point. The newest enrichment facility that have built is underground, built in a mountain and heavily fortified. Why would they need to do this if it was intended for peaceful purposes, especially if they're enriching to the 20% levels when peaceful energy/medical enrichment needs as you described (good info BTW) is far lower than what this facility is doing. Kinda makes you have to consider the intent and their claims as not-so-honest or peaceful.

February 1, 2012 at 3:02 am |

Gigi

Iranian leaders would be crazy if they did not look after a nuke!
Iranians need to protect themselves

It's a WMD that has no place on this earth. There is no good outcome of ever using these again! They vaporize everything in it's center, then it's followed by months of death, years of complications leading to death and a life time (for some) of disease and misery.

The only thing it will do is completely destroy it's center mass. The rest of it will just have really sick and gravely people wondering what in Gods name they did to deserve this punishment!

Nukes aren't the Iranian threat. Hamas and Hezbollah have been training in Mexico for years – both are terrorist organizations with strong ties to Iran. With our border as open as it is, the most likely scenario is for these organizations to cross over and launch attacks on American cities. This means controlling our borders has more to do with national security than it does keeping out the illegals – but of course the left wing liberals would never admit that.

Then why doesn't your party say anything about it? By the way, I'm Libertarian! I bet you didn't expect that!

February 1, 2012 at 12:15 am |

Eric

This is NOT a Party thing. This is a human rights thing. How would you like it if you didn't have the freedom of speech, and were shot just because you disagree with the government. I disagree plenty with our government, but at least I can say something without having to worry about being arrested and tortured, or shot just for expressing my opinions

February 1, 2012 at 12:39 am |

newt

I'm Libertarian! I bet you didn't expect that!
---–

But you have voted Republican all your life, all Libertarian means is that you can say what you want because you don't have a party that would support your extreme attitude and yet not have that same attitude stick to the party you continue to vote for...

February 1, 2012 at 1:02 am |

Brad76

urshadow- Libertarian is just a fancy name for fiscal conservative. There's really nothing special or frightening about it as the media would have you believe. Canada's government is fiscal conservative and their economy is doing quite well considering the circumstances. (I think someone up top just LOVES war, no wonder they don't like Ron Paul.)

February 1, 2012 at 2:03 am |

Eric

@URShadow. I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. It also is a major entry point for illegal drugs of all sorts, and very likely any other sort of materials that could be used for destructive purposes.

Where are you getting this info from? Hezbollah and Hamas in Mexico? Lol

February 1, 2012 at 12:36 am |

Eric

Read the news. Not CNN, not Fox. They are coming in from Guatemala and other South American countries who don't have the resources to stop it, not to mention the corruption in the police force that deal directly with drug cartels. There's little to nothing to stop these people from coming up north and crossing the border... Happens every day.

February 1, 2012 at 12:43 am |

DPatriot

@ Bob , its common knowledge that they both train there . I wouldn't be surprised to learn they have training camps in the U.S.

It's very simple. US has used Nukes ONE time after being savagely attacked and pulled into a war. We are at least responsible enough to restrain ourselves from using them again because we are well aware of the danger they pose to all inhabitants of this planet. Do you think these radical extremists have that same restraint? I certainly doubt that.

We are the only country ever to have used a nuclear weapon, and WE are supposed to be a responsible nation? We invade Iraq without provocation and WE can be trusted not to use nuclear weapons, except in self defense? What is crystal clear is how our blind nationalism makes us blind, just as theirs' makes them blind. Sure, let us go ahead and flex our muscles on the world stage to protect our own narrow interests, but for heaven's sake let us not be self-righteous and use moral and ethical arguments to justify this bullying.

February 1, 2012 at 12:39 am |

Eric

While I agree completely that our invasion of Iraq was completely unprovoked, based on bad intelligence from CIA (sorry, there is an example of ineptitude and a conflict of terms), we did not nuke, nor threaten to nuke them at any time, this was put forth by one of the most inept presidents in history (just look at his military record and his alcoholic tendencies), Still, the PEOPLE of Iraq were begging for the ouster of a repressive regime, as was the PEOPLE of Libya, as is the PEOPLE of Syria. People getting shot left and right just for the right to exercise their freedom that EVERY person on this planet deserves.

February 1, 2012 at 12:54 am |

Maltese Falcon

Pearl Harbor bombing was planned and known in advance by your Pres. Roosevelt "to galvanize public support".

February 1, 2012 at 1:03 am |

Eric

That may well be true, and I wouldn't doubt it for a second. This is just another example of the corruption in our government.

How about no one take them out? How about we allow the disproportionately large (and somewhat "western" friendly) youth decide the future of their country? As it stands, they could create an Iran to be proud of. With our action we will only be creating more terrorists, which is all our actions amount to.

This whole 'crisis' is so phony, orchestrated by the CIA/MOSSAD US/Israeli military to start another war. I can not believe the US population is so easily manipulated. If there is direct military action on a large scale by Israel or the US, their people will suffer unforeseen consequences. China and Russia could provide the ability to make the US pay a large price for it's actions. Aircraft carriers are large targets to advanced missile systems.

It's the phony WMD fear-mongering lead up to regime change all over again.

Iran has OUR oil and we want control of it, especially now that we've secured Iraq's oil fields. If only Americans would spend just a little time studying the history of U.S. involvement (meddling, really) in the Middle East, particularly since WWII. The pattern becomes obvious.

January 31, 2012 at 11:39 pm |

Chris

Let them have a nuke. They would be imbeciles not to want it. They see North Korea with nukes and how it can thumb its nose at the US, so why wouldn't they? A bunch of pansy scaredy cats who seem to forget the whole MAD thing.

I totally agree. Iran should be allowed to have Nukes just like North Korea, Pakistan and India. We should stop telling other countries what they can and cannot do. We should get our mess in America in order before we open our mouth against others.

Seriously??? We can't protect our networks??? As a Security Architect, I find it appalling that these foreign entities are granted access to penetrate our "Secure" Networks. Cyber Security is TOO easy to defend. These "Intrusions" are simply due to unqualified wabba-bees, merely collecting a paycheck.

You now know my email....with a decade and a half of InfoSec experience, hit me up.....as long as you don't require a BS TSSBI clearance. Don' want it, or you that close to my back yard. Your choice – Failure with a clearance, or skills!! What a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is Lavrov thinks by blocking at the UN supplying weapons to Assad, calling the protesters that armed themselves extremists they can stall for time to allow Assad to crush it or force the FSA to accept the Russian deal which is to keep Assad.

First it would be crushed in 3 weeks, then 3 months now it is 10 months in, so time has so far keep Assad in power, but he is losing control and the conflict is intractable. The other side believes that it is a matter of time before Assad falls, and have maintained resistance to the regime for 10 months and made gains against the regime.

The killing of civilians made his position untenable at the start, the continued killing of civilians means that there is no way he can stay in for a transition of power it is unacceptable, which is an illusion for a move to a quite crackdown.

So you have two different estimates on what time will achieve. One is that it is in Assad's favor and another that it is to his detriment. Which means it is the situation on the ground that will dictate any diplomatic solution not the other way around. So I am afraid that the only option is a civil war,

Syria entered a civil war many months ago, I prefer the term insurgency. Now insurgencies take around 20 years to be completed for once side or the other to achieve a victory over the other. Unless a political settlement is found earlier in between, which is reliant on pressure from both sides to compromise, which comes about from the military situation on the ground. So the Russian threats of Syria entering a civil war if Assad is asked to step down is crap, because Syria is in a civil war.

The deal the Mubarak deal used for Yemen is unacceptable for Syria, so regardless of the time frame he has to leave power, there is no transition period, he does not deserve such an honor. The fact that such a deal end in removal of the dictator. One has to question the motives of the Russians in using the Arab model (what a 20 year insurgency for a transition period in which he would leave power anyway) as was put to Mubarak and Saleh. Mubarak was meant to say he would leave during a period of calm, which meant as soon as the protestors had left the square, not September.

So it is for that reason that the FSA trust neither Assad or the Russians, the Russians have no capital to be involved in negotiations. The FSA are meant to believe that all this butchery is for a transitional period in which Assad would leave power, so negotiations are useless and counter productive. There will be no compromise, the FSA will not be pressured into any talks with Assad via the Russian deal.

Lavrov no UN, Assad is not going to go, so what are you going to do?

Well we are going to destroy Syria and he is going to be ruling a failed state, one that he can not afford to fix, we are going to destroy it, turn it into Somalia,

it costs the FSA a few dollars per man per day, it costs Assad millions per day. Look at the damage already,10 months, think 20 years of that not that Assad will last that long. It will not be able to afford the crackdown and he will not be able to fix the damage. So what exactly is he ruling a failed basket case of state, oh such an honor.

So while you can give him money you will never get back to fix what we are going to do is going to cost trillions and for that Syria needs monies from the west to be unlocked for development and reconstruction.

That is what we are going to do destroy it, break it, FUBAR big time.

This reminds me not of Iraq or Afghanistan but of the Algerian insurgency.

What Lavrov fails to understand, is the FSA has no heavy weapons, the FSA needs to temporally seize areas and then launch a tactical retreat while offer pockets of resistance. That results in the regime using disproportionate force, tanks artillery, he destroys his own suburbs in Damascus and he will destroy his own capital for the FSA. $$$$$$

It's like the Iranian atom bomb they aren't really building. Pres. el-Asad isn't that bad. The atrocities are being committed by CIA proxies. Then there is that Int. Republican Institute in Egypt. Interfering is interfering.
By the way, your country is, ah, bankrupt. Got Bipolar? Yup, you do.

You guys need to put more accurate headlines. "Iran nuke program" implies nuclear warheads, not just a nuclear program. Clearly that was just a false title to lure people to the article, especially when the article itself explains there are no weapons being produced currently. CNN should know better than to just create more artificial fear, the US should be moving past that.

I bet Germany was 'concerned' about the intentions of Europe in the late 30's! This whole notion of Iran as a threat to the US is absurd! We, US/Israel, bully and push them to respond, and say look what they did! People are NOT civilized creatures! The world's largest christian nation is the worlds largest arms dealer. Yea, that is something Christ would be real proud of.

January 31, 2012 at 11:36 pm |

Arsio

Give me one support on whether Iran is building a bomb. There is not one single scientific evidence according to IAEA that Iran is building a bomb. The report released last year was a POLITICAL NOT SCIENTIFIC!

January 31, 2012 at 11:39 pm |

KentAZ

This propaganda is not about Iran's nuclear program (which, BTW, was initiated by–you guessed–the U.S. during the Ford administration in the mid-70's...of course back then the ruthless puppet Shah, our ally, was in power so it was OK).

It's about Iran's oil. The nuclear issue is being utilized–as were the phony Iraqi WMDs–as a casus belli for military intervention.

It's amazing that in the wake of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars that any American citizen could fall for the same misdirection again, but many no doubt will.

So, your intel is better than the CIA and NSA? Who do you work for? I could say anything I felt as true, but the bottom line is you have no proof that they are doing it for oil! Where's the Oil we went to Iraq for? The oil in Afghanistan? I don't see it at my pump!!!

Iran has publicly said he would destroy Israel, has declared America his Enemy and is no less dangerous than Hitler. He's only lacking the resources, technology and man power to take over the world. If things were different, you my friend would be speaking German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese or possibly Farsi

Iran has laid claim to having agents all over the world and including the US. They can strike at any moment! If it's true or not, who knows? I'm not one to agree with some and do nothing when we can prevent something.

February 1, 2012 at 1:46 am |

Eric

All of these people that keep saying this is about oil are about as naive as they come. Do we get more oil cheaply from Iraq? No. Did we take over the oil fields? No. Did we do this in Kuwait when we had to run Iraq out of there? No. Sudan? No. This is not about oil, this is about the danger of Nuclear weapons in the hands of radical jihadists.

it is clear that all eyes are on iran , well that is fine if your watching through open doors. but the 1 feb, 2012 the IAEA will report that they never took a tour of the nuke sites in iran but rather sat in meetings and talked about talking iran out of the nuke program. since not one inspector went to any nuke sites we have no clue of the facts, and that is a fact. the pres is running for re-election and a war could derail his goals. iran also has a goal with deadly results.

It would be hard for you to understand my logic that I believe you don’t have a clue about that teaching hate is a weapon that would defeat all the present and the update weapons technologies. My point is that the Muslim’s of U.S. should be the ones to volunteers….

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.